If I were to ask you which tech trend dominated 2024, I am confident you would say AI. The term remained the buzz throughout the year, with all the tech titans taking their best shots to make their AI products stand out. Smartphone makers also boarded the hype train, plastering it all over their marketing. But has AI features proven useful on smartphones in 2024, or are they just gimmicks that should’ve been avoided? Let us discuss.
The AI Hype Train: A 2024 Smartphone Staple
This year, almost every smartphone brand jumped on the AI bandwagon before it left the station. New devices came out with a set of “smart” features that were more outlandish than the last. And somehow, it roped in generative AI to be the new marketable highlight.
It started with Google’s Pixel 8 series in 2023 and carried forward to this year with Samsung’s S24 lineup. The company’s Galaxy AI features came out of the box in 2024 with all of their flagship smartphones. It was the series’ highlight, with every promotional piece saying “Galaxy AI is here“. It included features like – Voice recorder transcripts and summaries, a Writing Assistant, real-time language translation on calls, Google’s Circle to Search, an AI image editor, and generative wallpapers.
In the following months, other brands were quick on their feet to integrate generative formulas for their devices. London-based fashion/tech startup Nothing introduced some AI features for the Nothing Phone (2a) like ChatGPT shortcuts and AI wallpapers. Meanwhile, OnePlus and Xiaomi pushed out AI features and bringing them to an affordable tier of smartphones.
Apple usually waits for the dust to settle before jumping in. But they surprised everyone this year by announcing Apple Intelligence (hmm, clever?) at the WWDC event in June. This brought AI-powered Siri, new Writing tools, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration, Image playground, Notification summaries, and more to the iPhone 15 Pro and the 16 series.
Google quickly followed with the Pixel 9 series, focusing heavily on AI once again. It was a display of the company’s achievements so far. It introduced new AI breakthroughs such as a Pixel Screenshots app that can generate summaries from captured images, Pixel Studio to generate images, Best Take, Circle to Search, Add Me, call transcriptions, and more.
Do People Utilize AI Features on their Smartphones?
The fact is, none of these AI features address any big-picture issues. Instead, they are mere solutions looking for a problem. A good example would be this Apple ad showing an office lackey sending a professional email using their iPhone’s Writing Tools. Or this Google advert where someone asks for an image of a “Flamingo wearing a hat” because why not?
These are just some of the many outlandish situations shown in promotional materials to forge the value of AI wizardry. But outside the marketing material, are people finding these features useful? We conducted a poll on X and Instagram to get a better idea, asking, “How often do you use AI on your phone & what do you use it for?“.
How often do you use AI on your phone & what do you use it for?— Beebom (@beebomco) December 23, 2024
From the votes we received on X, 33% sided with “Occasionally“, while 30% opted for “Rarely“. The result was nearly identical on Instagram too. It clears the fact that people are somewhat enthusiastic about these additions to their devices. However, like us, they don’t find the current feature set that helpful in everyday life.
The most frequently used feature was Google’s Circle to Search. Followed by ChatGPT to understand complex topics and ideation, while a few of you mentioned image editing as one of the use cases. Besides these, options like AI image generation, transcription, or summarization, were not mentioned even once.
For now, the current set of AI tools on smartphones seem nothing more than gimmicks. It’s a similar story to how Samsung advertised the air gestures back in the TouchWiz days. And that’s not just my opinion, but something that is voiced by many across the internet. There are several threads like this one on Reddit discussing that AI has still to prove its merits on smartphones.
As per this Sellcell report, 73% of iPhone users and 87% of Samsung users say AI features add little to no value. Only a few sets of features like Writing Tools, Notification summaries, and image cleanup are what the majority of people even find any use case for, as is evident from this graph. The notion was similar for Galaxy AI features as well.
My Experience With AI: Flashy or Functional?
As someone who lingers around tech most of the day, I have the most exposure to the latest smartphones that come with all the fancy AI advantages. I get to daily drive these phones, but post the review period, I don’t find any need to revisit them later. I tested out the later Pixel 9 (review) upon its launch. While I was excited about all the fun stuff Google has packed in, it didn’t prove to be much useful after the honeymoon phase was over.
Personally, I only use a select few options, like the aforementioned Circle to Search and Gemini Live. Circle to search is useful for finding links to cool items that I discover while scrolling through Instagram. However, it isn’t something that I would consider to be AI. In this current iteration, it feels like a glorified shortcut to access Google Lens and its image reverse searching capabilities.
Then, there’s Gemini Live that I initiate conversations with only when I’m bored at home on weekends. It does a pretty good job, mimicking a human, even to the little nuances. But the conversation doesn’t last that long, since the AI doesn’t have an interesting personality.
It only tries to mimic one while making sure it adheres to company policies, leading to many awkward silences from my end. But there is more hope for the future as this technology improves.
I asked around the Beebom office and the consensus came about to be the same. At the moment, AI features on smartphones are flashy, but not functional. No brand I feel has caught a bolt of lightning in a bottle with this new tech, which is why it stayed nothing more than a novelty this year.
Looking Ahead: Will AI Finally Find Its Place on Smartphones?
While 2024 didn’t turn out to be as fruitful of a year for AI implementation on smartphones, I am hopeful for the future. The technology could be limitless, and this year was just the start. And it’s not like we didn’t see any good results from it. OxygenOS 15‘s Reflection eraser and Nothing OS’ ChatGPT shortcuts are some of my favorite features from this year.
People are now aware that their phone has AI capabilities, and it’s just a matter of time before Google, Samsung, and Apple understand what people are looking for. Maybe they’ll finally look past removing people from the background and think about filling the empty spaces (not just literally!) with something more creative.
Next year, even more phones in all price categories are set to feature AI functionality in one way or the other. And with more players, I hope that someone will crack the code of making these features into useful essentials that become a part of our daily routine. Something like Google search, social media apps, or Reels that we just can’t stop scrolling.
Anshuman Jain
